Justice
by Chloethepirate
Summary: Grace Alice Justice is a shy girl, with her father dead and a mother who blames her for his death she feels pretty worthless. Will becoming part of the Cirque Du Freak change her life, or will it make it even worse? Rated T for language and violence.
1. Be careful what you wish for

**Hey, this is my first fanfic so please don't be too mean :( Rated T for now for bad language and violence and stuff but it may change later! I will hopefully update a couple times a week, maybe more Please review! :)**

**-Chloe**

**(Disclaimer- I don't own any of Darren Shan's characters!)**

"Grace! GRACE! Get the fuck up!"

The shrill voice of my mother made my eyes open wide, I'd only had 3 hours sleep, I felt absolutely dead.

"I'm up!" I called back out of my small bedroom door and heard my mum grunt in reply. The clock read 7.48, I had just a half hour to get ready and be out the house and walking to school. I sighed as I brushed through my auburn hair; it was getting far too long, the curls hung down by my waist. I quickly put a light layer of foundation and some mascara on and started getting dressed.

I hated my school uniform to no end. White shirt, green and black tie and hideous black blazer with the biggest shoulder pads I've ever seen. My school sucked. I was in sixth form and _still_ had to wear the uniform. I longed for the day when I could choose what to wear instead of looking like a sack of potatoes every day. I took a quick look in the mirror and sucked in a large breath before I went downstairs to face my mum.

I didn't exactly like my mum, she was mean and cold, she'd been like that since my dad had died. There's two ways a person can direct their grief. Inwards and outwards. Unfortunately for me, she aimed it outwards, mostly in my direction.

"Morning Mum." I whispered, pulling my skirt down to make it longer at the same time. Mum hated to see me looking like what she thought was a 'sex object.' This included showing any part of my leg above my knees, showing the tops of my arms and above all, showing any part of my chest.

Mum just grunted her response and I set off for school. 'She must be hungover.' I thought. As I walked the mile and a half to school I thought about my life.

Name – Grace Alice Justice.

Age – 17

Location – London

I'd lived in London since I was 14, when my father died. He was hit by a car crossing the road, me and my mum witnessed the crash ourselves. The driver was drunk; he'd spun out of control and knocked my father down but had carried on trying to drive and my dad died painfully as the car crushed him. Up to this day my mum still blames me for the accident. The sad thing is, I blame me too. I deserve anything I get from her... the abuse...the beatings...

I shook the thought from my mind. School was in sight. I wasn't a very big fan of the school I went to, the sixth form was over crowded and the younger years all thought they were 'hard.'

I wasn't very well liked in school. Since my dad's death I kept mostly to myself, only making 3 friends in the whole 3 years I'd been there. But in my opinion, they were great friends. There was Cony Porter; she was the girl I was closest to. She had shoulder length black hair, brown eyes and beautiful mocha colour skin. This was the complete opposite to my red hair, green eyes and ivory skin. But you know what they say, opposites attract. The other two girls I'd managed to make friends with were Ruby and Evie. Ruby the tallest at 5'10, she had the size 0 figure that all the models would die for, yet she was healthy. She had wavy blonde hair that reached the small of her back, flawless skin, big blue eyes and pouty lips. She was definitely the one who attracted the most male attention out of the three of us. Evie on the other hand was introverted and shy, a bit like me. She had dyed brown hair that was cut short, and spiked up in a cute pixie look. She had brown eyes that were always framed by a mass of thick lashes and a gorgeous smile that could light up a room. Not that she knew, obviously.

Today was a Friday, thank God. This week had dragged and though I hoped that it would fly by, the day drained on as usual. Lunch finally came along and I sat at a table with Cony, Ruby and Evie.

"I'm so excited!" Ruby whispered to Cony.

"Me too! Shall we tell Grace?" Cony replied and Ruby nodded frantically. I lifted an eyebrow at them both and they smiled widely back at me.

"Guess what we found?" Cony asked excitedly to me, I shrugged in return and looked over at Evie, even she looked slightly smug. Ruby quickly dug her hand into her bag, pulled out a green flyer and thrust it into my hand. It read:

**CIRQUE DU FREAK**

**FOR ONE DAY ONLY! SATURDAY 14****TH**** APRIL.**

**SEE:**

**SIVE AND SEERSA – The twisted twins! THE SNAKE BOY! THE WOLF MAN! GERTHA TEETH! LARTEN CREPSLEY AND THE AMAZING SPIDER, MADAM OCTA! ALEXANDER RIBS! THE BEARDED LADY AND MUCH MORE!**

**NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED.**

I slowly looked up at the three giggling girls in front of me.

"You 3 actually want to go to this?" I asked, shocked. "Don't they like torture the people in it? Freak shows haven't been around in ages!"

"No! It's fine Grace, really! My cousin Tommy said his friends went to it once and said it was the best thing ever!" Ruby whisper-yelled at me eagerly.

"And you're sure they don't treat the people badly?"

"Positive! Grace, chill out a little, have fun! It's tomorrow, I'll text you all the address, I ripped it off before we came into school in case a teacher tried to confiscate the flyer" Though the blonde stereotype would disagree, Ruby was actually incredibly smart, surprisingly so sometimes. I smiled and nodded my 'okay' and with that, lunch was over.

By the end of the day I was so ready to go home, go to my room and just sleep. I kept thinking about the cirque though, where it would be and what the performers were like. It made me slightly happy thinking that I was going to be doing something with my friends tomorrow, usually we were wrapped up in coursework and such.

"GRACE? Is that you?" Mum shouted as I walked through my front door. Sigh. Good mood gone.

"Yes mum, it's me!" I called back. Who else would have a key to the house? I slowly walked through to the living room, trying to head for the stairs without disturbing my mum, who was lying on the sofa watching our crappy, second hand TV.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Just to my room mum, I have a lot of homework to do." I whispered. That was a lie, I had no homework, I just wanted to be out of her firing range. This was how most of our arguments started, her questioning everything I did.

"Don't take that tone with me you... you brat!" she screamed from where she lay. I kept calm; Answering back wasn't going to help the situation in the slightest. I stood there, in front of her, expression blank, just remembering who she used to be...

Her once fiery hair was now speckled with grey and dead, her face, now full of wrinkles from frowning so much. I missed the old her, she was so loving and care free. It's strange how grief can ruin somebody. Inside and out.

"Say something then!" she screamed. I stayed silent. "Little bitch. I knew from birth you'd ruin my life I knew you'd destroy everything!" Her fists clenched and unclenched after every other word. Usually, a speech like this ended in a slap across the face or a swift push into the wall. I prepared myself for the blow.

Mum slowly rose up from the sofa, smoothed down her blue pyjamas; she hadn't bothered getting dressed, as per usual, and looked me dead in the eye.

"I wish you'd never been born. No, in fact... I wish you'd died in that car crash instead of your father. You're a waste of space. I wish you were dead." She stared at me with more hate and disgust than I had ever seen before. I felt my eyes well up with tears. I knew she hated me but... wanted me to die? She was my mum... she was supposed to love me.

"Mum..." I choked out "You... wish I was dead?" I felt tiny, I was 5'3 and my mum was only 5'4 but it felt like she towered over me. She looked me up and down swiftly and scoffed.

"Trust me grace," she snarled as she said my name. "If I could kill you and get away with it, you'd be six feet under by now." I stumbled back in shock and the tears I'd tried to hold in spilled down my cheeks. I immediately regretted letting the emotional wall I'd kept up for the past 3 years down. My mum scoffed again.

"Fucking pathetic." She muttered and before I could ever blink her right fist had connected with my jaw and I was on the floor. Did she just punch me? I looked at her in disbelief, she just laughed, a quick, humourless cackle.

CRACK. She'd kicked me in the side. Was that crack a rib? It was strange though, I couldn't feel the pain yet... UGH. Another kick to my torso brought the pain to the forefront of my mind. It was excruciating and I cried out.

"Stop it! Mum please! Mummy!" I hoped to trigger her mothering instincts with the word 'Mummy.' I had called her this through most of my life, as we had been so close I had called her it until my early teenage years. She stopped kicking me abruptly and I peeked up at her, unfolding my arms from around my body. Her eyes were wide and frantic but they showed a slight sparkle of softness, of the mum I used to know.

"Mummy?" I repeated, this seemed to be working. She stared at me, eyes huge with surprise.

"Mum?" she blinked, stuttered, and her shocked state was gone.

"You fucking bitch." She whispered and lifted her foot high above my head, and then everything went black.

**What did you think? Please review :)**


	2. Injured

**I got bored and did another chapter! This chapter seems a bit rambley to me as it is 1 o'clock in the morning ... I do hope you like it though! This is the first chapter with Darren in :)! Please review, but please be nice :) **

**-Chloe**

**(Disclaimer- I do not own any of Darren Shan's characters.)**

My eyes flickered open. Where was I? My head pounded hard with every breath I took and my eyes darted around the room, unable to remember what had happened and why I was on the floor. The room I was in was pitch black, like it was the middle of the night. I sat myself up slowly, head still banging and tried to remember what had happened to me. The last I could remember was walking to school and thinking about my dad, then blank. I stood up, groaning as a sharp pain hit my rib cage, I flicked a light switch on and breathed a sigh of relief. I was in my own room. I walked quickly to the mirror and gasped at what I saw.

I had a large cut from my right eyebrow to the bottom of my cheek bone, a split lip and a black eye. I touched the cut near my eye gingerly, it was still open and blood was slowly seeping out of it and pouring down my face and neck, I felt dizzy at the sight of it. I bent across my desk to get a tissue and cried out in pain, my rib was definitely broken. I lifted my school shirt to find my chest and ribcage bruised purple and blue. I took my shirt completely off and examined the bruises, they were sensitive and made it hard to breathe normally. What had happened to me? I had no idea, but couldn't shake the feeling that I was still in danger. Acting on instinct, I quickly put my shirt back on, a thick jumper over the top and packed a small bag. All of a sudden my phone vibrated in the bag, it was a text from Ruby, it read _'Meet at the park near mine tomorrow night at 8.30, I'll show you how to get to the show from there So excited, love you all!xxxx'_

Show? What show? I dismissed the strange text and started throwing a couple pairs of clothes and underwear into my bag, I didn't know where I was going to go or what I was going to do. All I knew was that something had happened to me and I needed to get out of this house as soon as possible. I glanced at my clock, it read 2.34am, my mum would be asleep by now and I'd be able to sneak out of the house without her seeing me. My mum... an image of her shouting at me flashed in front of my eyes. Had she done this to me? She couldn't have... I mean, yeah, she slapped me every now and again, but I deserved it, this couldn't have been her... I shook away the thought and sighed, creeping forward and opening the door as quietly as I could. I glanced downstairs, it was dark, mum must be asleep. I tip toed downstairs, hissing with pain that the movement of walking gave me. When I'd finally reached the front door I quickly unlocked it and opened it in one fluid motion, I'd had a lot of experience sneaking out over the past few years, sometimes you just need to get out of your own house to think and it makes everything better.

As I closed the door behind me cold wind hit me hard, spring was extremely cold this year. I breathed in deeply, braced myself and ran as fast as I could away from my house without doubling over in pain.

I ran for what felt like a very long time but every house seemed to look the same to me, I came up to a park and sat down on the swing, trying to think of a plan. I couldn't go to the police, they'd take me home, I couldn't go to the hospital, they'd want to know what happened and I didn't even know... I couldn't go to Cony, Ruby or Evie's house, what would they think? They wouldn't understand and they'd make me go to the police. Sigh. I stood up abruptly, breathing shallowly to try and make my pain subside; I smiled and sighed as breathing became slightly easier to bear. Maybe there's a homeless shelter nearby?

I walked and walked until I saw the sky start to get brighter. Yawwwwn. I was tired, it's funny how multiple injuries, loss of blood and lack of sleep can make you feel like you could fall unconscious anywhere. My eyes were getting heavier and heavier and I found it hard to keep them open. I needed to find somewhere to sleep otherwise I was going to pass out in the street and if I did that I knew I would be found soon and taken home. I didn't want that.

I tried to keep my head focused as I looked around, searching for a place to sleep. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a large brick building with smashed windows and wood planks over the door, next to it was an alley way. Sucking in a breath again I ran to it as fast as possible, I don't know why but the confined space made me feel slightly safer. My eyes were getting heavier and I noticed my cheek eye burning more than ever. My feet collapsed from underneath me and I fell hard into the alley wall, I cried out and swore. Slowly, I pulled myself back up from the ground and my head spun, my arm was stinging badly and I looked at it with blurry eyes, blood was dripping down my arm fast, I swiftly looked back at the wall, the sun glared off a nail sticking out of it. I sighed again, most likely, I'd be dead by that night. With the last of my strength I grabbed another jumper out of my bag of threw it on the floor behind a dumpster, put my bag near it and slumped my frail body against the wall, trying to find a position where my body didn't hurt. As soon as I did, my heavy eyelids closed and I was asleep.

My mind was full, even in my sleep. Colours and words flew gracefully around, the most dominant colour being red and the most common words being 'I wish you were dead.' Confusion, hate, anger, pain. My dreams were full of trying to remember the last day and unfortunately failing.

_RING, RING, RING, RING!_ What? What was that noise? _RING, RING, RING, RING_! There is was again... my eyes flew open and I groaned, my vision was still blurry and I was extremely weak, I couldn't lift my arm to answer, what I now realised, was my phone. My mind went over the situation I was in, over and over, trying to find a loophole in which this was all a dream and none of it was actually real, but I could find none. What was happening now was real. I was homeless, hurt and would most likely be on my death bed within a few hours. I lay my head down against the concrete floor and looked at the sky; I must have slept for a long time as it was dark again. I thought over my situation again and couldn't hold in the sob that racked through my body. I cried more than I ever had before, loudly, not caring who heard any more.

"Is someone down here?" an unfamiliar male voice called down the small alley. I stopped crying at once. How stupid was I? This man was going to make me go to the police and the hospital! I curled my head under my arm and kept silent, just letting my left eye peak out to watch above me.

"Hello? Are you okay?" the voice called again, closer this time. I stayed silent.

"Oh gosh... miss, are you okay?" Shit. I was busted. I looked up from under my arm, a teenage boy stood at my feet; he must have only been about 16. Poor him, I'm sure not every 16 year old boy wants to find a dying girl down an alley... The boy quickly knelt by my side and put his hand tightly over the arm which was cut.

"Mr Crepsley? CREPSLEY, I NEED YOU!" The boy yelled frantically. Oh god, who was Mr Crepsley?

"My name is Darren, Darren Shan, what's your name?" the boy whispered, leaning his face close to mine.

"Grace" I choked out and hissed, my ribs felt stiff and twice as sore as earlier "Grace Justice"

"That's a beautiful name, Grace" I smiled slightly, my vision blurring in and out of focus. I moved my body slowly, trying to sit up to see who 'Mr Crepsley' could be. The most excruciating pain shot through my chest.

"FUCK! THE PAIN!" I yelled frantically, and suddenly a tall man with a scar across his face and a crop of orange hair on his head ran over. He was strange looking, but I wasn't concentrating too much on that as another stab of pain shot through my torso.

"Please..." I begged, "can you do something about the pain..." The strange man brought his face close to mine, looked me deep in the eyes, opened his mouth and let his breath fan across my face. Then I was out. For the 3rd time in 2 days, I passed out.

**Hope you liked it :)**


	3. Attack of the Wolf Man

**Hellooo, Chloe again. I'm sorry for not updating in like...9 days but you know; being in year 11 really sucks. So much revision and coursework to do, it's killing me! Study leave in 41 days, thank god. I was actually wondering whether I should delete this as well, it seems like nobody's reading it :( Please review and let me know if you're reading it and what you think and stuff, I need that motivation to write more! This chapter seems to mostly be a flash back to the show... But anywho, hope you enjoy a bit of Larten Crepsley.**

**(Disclaimer- I don't own any of Darren Shan's characters!)**

Mr Crepsley POV

I let my breath fan across her face and watched as her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

"Darren, what have you gotten us in to?" I whispered, running a hand through my orange hair.

"I-I smelt the blood, I didn't think. I mean w-what would you have done if you'd heard crying and smelt human blood? Especially after what happened tonight!" I sighed but nodded, he was right, I would have jumped to conclusions as well. Darren was visibly shaken by the night's events so I decided to cut him some slack and patted his back in a reassuring gesture. Quickly I bandaged up the girls arm and face. She looked to be having trouble breathing too so I lifted her shirt slightly to look at her torso, there were huge blotchy black and blue bruises covering her sides and chest. What had happened to this girl?

"Maybe the Wolf Man got her?" Darren said quietly as if he'd read my thoughts.

"Unlikely. These bruises are at least a couple days old, and the cut on her arm has started to become infected so I'd say this happened at least 12 hours ago, maybe 10 at the very least." Darren looked relieved, I could tell he felt that he'd caused quite enough pain for one night...

_Earlier that night..._

_The night was flying by and I felt extremely happy with the way the show was turning out. Even in my old age I couldn't help but feel excited to perform with my beautiful spider and great, though annoying, assistant Darren Shan. I looked from behind the curtain, Darren was sat in the back row of the audience, ready to 'find' Madam Octa under his chair and surprise everybody. This had become a regular stunt we'd pull to fool the humans and I knew Darren loved the reaction he got. Just the Wolf Man to perform and then it was our turn. I smiled. I'd been with the cirque a good few years and still enjoyed performing. Before I'd joined and especially in my human life I'd never though myself as much of a performer, more of a worker. In my mind I was destined to work in a manual factory until death, like my father. Then I became a vampire and now I can't imagine my life without the cirque somehow in it. The applause of the crowd brought me from my thoughts and I watched as the Wolf Man was wheeled in his cage on to the stage. _

"_When we let the Wolf Man from his cage I implore you to stay quiet. Your silence is indeed a matter of life or death." Hibernius Tall projected in a deep and earnest voice. The crowd were still and quiet almost at once. They stared at Mr Tall as he slowly opened the latch of the large cage. The door swung open and the Wolf Man quickly stepped out, his lip curled over his long yellow teeth. He stepped forward again and sniffed curiously at Mr Tall. AHOOOOOOOOOOOOO. He howled loud and long when suddenly a scream interrupted him._

"_AHHHH! SPIDER! IT'S A SPIDER!" a girl's voice shouted frantically. My eyes shot to Darren. Indeed, he had lost control of Madam Octa and she was crawling on a poor girl's leg. Her two friends jumped up and down trying to brush the spider off her but if anything, it did the opposite. The girl yelped as Octa bit her thigh and she slumped down, her blonde hair falling over her face. She fell onto the floor and the whole room was speechless. I suddenly remembered the Wolf Man. His eyes were stuck to the girl on the floor. A low growl rose from his chest. He lunged._

"_NO!" I yelled over the screams of the rest of the crowd and ran onto his back to stop him, but it was too late, he was already ripping the young girl's intestines from her body. All Darren could do was stare as he stood by the other side of the Wolf Man watching a girl die because of his mistakes. _

"_Darren!" I shouted "Snap out of it!" A tear rolled down his cheek as he grabbed the Wolf Man's fur and pushed as hard as he could against it, but he just wasn't strong enough. Darren was thrown across the room into a pile of chairs, he groaned in pain and didn't stand back up.  
I suddenly remembered how many humans there were in the room and hurried to get them out of the door and towards Mr Tall. He could to assure them it was all part of the show.  
A piercing scream distracted my thoughts but I couldn't act any differently, I couldn't show that anything was wrong with what was happening. I had to pretend everything was fine, when in reality it very much wasn't. The wolf man hadn't killed anybody since Sam Grest. That hit Darren hard and it hadn't been his fault. This had... I was not looking forward to his moping to say the least._

_I closed the door quickly and sighed, ready to face the carnage behind me. I turned slowly and sighed again. All three girls were dead. Their guts and blood were splattered and spread around the room, the once blue chairs and white pillars were now covered with red splats. I stared at it for a minute, I was hungry and hadn't eaten in a fair few days, but it definitely wasn't time to think about that now. I ran to the hunched over Wolf Man and pushed him hard, he fell back and a couple of the other cirque members helped me push him back into his cage. He howled and I hit the cage hard, a growl escaping my chest as I did. Flitting over to an unconscious Darren, I flung him on my back and got out of that theatre as if my life depended on it. The little people would clean the theatre and dispose of the bodies. Well... Dispose or eat, one or the other._

Darren had quickly woken when the cold air had hit him and here we were. Hunched over an unconscious girl trying to figure out what to do next.

"Darren, what do you think we should do?" I whispered. It was often I asked his opinion of situations, usually as I wanted to see how mature he was. This time I was simply unsure of what to do myself.

"Let's take her to the cirque." And we did.

**I think this is a really shitty chapter to be honest, but it was the best I could do in an hour, I apologise for any spelling mistakes or confusion! I'm gonna bribe you now. Please review or I may not post another chapter ;)**


	4. The Explanation

**I caved. I've only had like 1 review on this story yet I still updated for you…I'm sad today :(**

**-Chloe**

**(Disclaimer – I own none of Darren Shan's characters!)**

Grace's POV

My life had always been pretty complex, full of sadness and heartache, yet at this point of unconsciousness I felt utterly at piece. My mind was the clearest it had been in years, I could finally see what was wrong with my life, with myself. I could finally see how to fix myself and be happy. I could finally start again. This sense of unconsciousness was strange, I could think, I could remember everything. It was amazing. I couldn't wait to wake up, I was going to march to the Police and tell them about my mother, my bruises would be proof enough of what had happened to me. She'd get put in prison and I'd be put in a care home or something until I was 18, then I'd finally be able to move on with my life. Maybe I'd go to university, get a great job and have a family of my own. Perhaps I'd die an old lady comfortable in my bed with everyone I love sat around me. This is what I wanted to happen; I didn't say it was necessarily realistic. My last clear thought was of my father, and then I woke up.

My eyes opened and I took in the space around me. I was in a tent surrounded by colourful pieces of material and clothing, I slowly looked around. This place wasn't familiar to me at all and I felt myself start to hyperventilate, it would just be my luck to be murdered in a dingy tent.

"Crepsley! I think she's awake!" I heard a slightly familiar voice call from just outside the tent. Shit. I was definitely going to be murdered… Shit, shit, shit. I quickly followed my instinct, lay back down and made my breathing steady and deep again and closed my eyes as if I were sleeping.

"Oh… maybe not…" the voice said again, closer this time. Two pairs of footsteps made themselves closer to me. "Do you think she'll be okay? She seemed pretty disturbed."

"She'll be wonderful. Trust me." The second voice replied. I'll be wonderful? What? Who the hell is this guy? Was this the orange hair scar guy? If it was, I'd talked to him for all of 2 seconds and that was just asking for a pain release, how could he possibly know I'd be 'wonderful'? I made my breathing slightly lighter. How would they act around me when I was awake? I stretched my arms out and let my eyelids flicker open. I was right; the orange haired scar face man was stood towering over me, a younger teenage boy at his side. I sat up poker straight.

"Where am I?" I asked, I was quietly confident, I felt I had outsmarted them in some way, the sleep this man had put me under had made me far less socially awkward.

"You're at the Cirque Du Freak. You're in Truska's tent at the moment, we couldn't find anywhere else to put you on such short notice." The boy said, I'm sure he'd told me his name at one point… I stared at him as I took in what he'd said. The Cirque Du Freak. The place I was meant to come to with my friends on Saturday night. Shit, what day was it? The last day or so had been a blur of my blood and strange memories of my mother. I quickly stood up and stared at the boy, even though he was about a foot taller than me I felt him shrink behind the older man.

"I'm at the Cirque Du Freak? What day is this? Have you seen my friends?" I had so many more questions but I wanted them to answer fully, so I left it at them three. It was then that I looked down; I was in different clothes than I was before I passed out, who changed me? Oh god… the older man coughed and my thoughts shot back to reality.

"My name is Larten Crepsley; and this is my assistant, Darren Shan. We found you crying in pain outside the theatre we were performing in. You were bleeding to death. Truska patched you up, found some clothes for you and let you sleep in her tent. I think you owe her more than us. It is 2pm on Sunday, April 15th; you have been sleeping for 17 hours. As for your friends, I do not know. Why would we know where they are?" His voice was deep and even, it was clear he was telling the truth, maybe I wouldn't be murdered after all.

"17 hours? Wow." I thought for a couple seconds, "Oh did my friends not go to the show? Hmm, I thought they would of. They seemed pretty adamant on it." The two strangers shared a worried glance.

"Erm… Grace? What did your friends look like?" The boy, Darren, asked.

"Well, Cony has black hair and coloured skin, Ruby is really tall and has really long blonde hair and Evie has short brown hair, looks kind of like a pixie." Darren and Larten shared yet another worried look. "What's going on?" I asked, and Darren broke.

"I'M SORRY! I-I-I have to go. I'm so sorry." He cried and ran from the tent faster than I could of thought humanely possible and I was left standing in shock with this tall orange haired man.

"I apologise that Darren could not tell you what happened to your friends, it seems we had a bit of an accident last night. While the Wolf Man was performing Darren… lost control of my spider, Madame Octa, she got free and bit your friend, Ruby, was it? The blonde haired girl. Naturally, she screamed, this… angered the wolf man… Unfortunately, his anger was aimed at your friends. I am so sorry to say this, but they are all dead." His voice was quiet and sympathetic. Dead? My friends were dead. They were dead and I was still alive. What had they done to deserve this? Nothing. I deserved it. I ran from the tent, just as Darren had done, they were dead because of him after all, I might as well die because of him as well.

"Have you seen Darren Shan?" I yelled frantically until somebody with what looked like scales pointed to a small tent across the grass. I entered the tent calmly and slowly to find Darren curled in a ball in the corner.

"G-Grace, I-I'm so sorry…" he muttered quietly. I stepped towards him and he buried his head into his hands.

"Stand up." I didn't recognise my own voice. He quickly complied, still sobbing quietly. Then I punched him square in the face. I had a plan, I was going to rile him up until he killed me, it shouldn't take long. His face was priceless, full of shock, anger and sadness all mixed in his eyes. Bang. I punched him again, immediately forgetting the pain that shot through my ribs as I did so. Adrenalin flowing freely through my veins, I was ready for death.

"This is your fucking fault! You deserve everything you feel you coward!" Bang, again, my fist connected with his face but this time he retaliated, grabbing my wrist and twisting it before I had time to hit him again, his other hand went to my throat, gripping hard, all sadness from his face was replaced with pure anger.

"Do it. Kill me." I choked out; tears' welling up in my eyes as I thought about what my father would think about the situation I was in. His hand tightened around my neck and my airways completely closed, I couldn't breathe and the tears I was holding in fell over my cheeks. I closed my eyes, not wanting to look at the boy who was about to take my life. His fingers tightened and the nails dug into my neck, drawing blood.

"You don't deserve this. I'm sorry." Darren whispered near my ear and let go of my throat abruptly, I didn't open my eyes. It was then I felt his tongue on my neck and my eyes flew open.

"Darren! What are you doing?" I pushed him away quickly, forcing the bile that was rising in my throat back into my stomach. The young boy sighed and looked into my eyes, grabbing either side of my face to keep me from breaking the eye contact.

"Grace, I'm a vampire."

**Cliffhangerrrrr, sort of. Please review, I'm getting impatient and sad 'n stuff. Sorry about any spelling mistakes or confusion!**


	5. The Decision

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, wasn't sure anybody was reading this :/**

**(Disclaimer – I own none of Darren Shan's characters!)**

**-Chloe**

"You're a vampire?" I scoffed, "Do you think I'm stupid?" I pushed him away the hardest I could and turned my back on him, contemplating running away.  
"I'm not kidding Grace, I swear. Well, I suppose technically I'm just a half vampire, but you get my drift." The anger and sadness in his voice from before seemed to melt away, he sounded almost childlike now. He had to be kidding; either that or he was delusional.  
"Grace, I swear." He spun me round to look me in the eyes again "Do I have to prove it?" I had to admit, this spiked my curiosity and I decided to humour him.  
"Go on then." My voice was amused; it was almost like he hadn't just tried to kill me. He now seemed younger than me, smaller and uncomfortable about the situation. This boy was anything but a vampire.  
"Fine" he huffed. "Look at me; I'm standing a couple of metres in front of you, yes?" What was he playing at? I didn't reply but he took my silence to mean yes anyway. "Close your eyes and open them after a second, like you're blinking."  
"Okay…" I said unsurely, he had just been about to kill me a minute ago, I was still quite wary, but I did as he said. Blink. When I opened my eyes Darren was nowhere to be seen, like he'd vanished.  
"W-what?" I whispered, utterly confused. Then I felt a breath on the nape of my neck and a hand snake round my waist and onto my stomach. My breath caught in my throat and I was stunned still. The hand made it's way round to the other side of my stomach and spun me, I was now face to face with Darren.

He looked different now, not angry, nor childlike, nor sad. He looked powerful, older and in control. It was like I could see his whole life just by looking into his eyes. I couldn't believe it; I was actually attracted to the killer of my best and only friends. This was so messed up, so unbelievably crazy, yet I couldn't bring myself from looking into his deep brown eyes. His arms twisted so they were both on the small of my back as mine were rested on his chest.  
"Believe me now?" Darren said in a deep voice, as he slowly leant forward…

Someone clearing their throat loudly brought us both out of the trance we were in. Larten Crepsley and the boy with the scales were stood at the entrance to the tent. I stepped back quickly and smoothed down my clothes, coughing awkwardly.  
"So, this is what you do when you find out your best friends have been killed, kiss the murderer?" Larten asked a hint of amusement in his croaky voice. I looked down at my feet with shame, that was what I had been about to do, wasn't it? Kiss a murderer?  
"We didn't kiss." Darren finally squeaked, it seemed whenever he were near this older man his whole demeanour changed to something more of a child than a young adult.  
"You were about to!" The boy with the scales piped up. "My names Evra Von by the way, we weren't properly introduced when you were frantically shouting to me earlier." I looked up to see him holding his hand out to me, I shook it slowly. Evra was about 6'2 tall, just slightly taller than Darren. He had a seemingly muscular body and was wearing a white shirt and black trousers; he looked slightly like a waiter. But the most obvious thing about Evra was that his skin was entirely covered in green scales, even the palms of his hands. I didn't want to seem rude though so I didn't ask questions.  
"I'm Grace, Grace Justice." I replied, he nodded quickly.  
"Yep, Crepsley's been telling me all about you! He assumed we'd come into the tent and find either you or Darren dead, not making out!" Evra snorted loudly and lay down on one of the three hammocks that were hanging up inside the cramped tent.  
"Hmm, I think there was a fight Evra, look at her neck!" Larten said calmly, walking toward me. It was hard to determine his age, his face looked as if he were around 40, but his eyes suggested his was much older, they seemed to contain wisdom and experience that only the extremely elderly held. He was in front of my now, examining the bruises forming on my neck.  
"Well, Grace." He held my gaze, "It's up to you." The confusion was obviously clear on my face as he quickly continued. "It's up to you, do you want to stay here or do you want to be taken home?"

Shit, what do I do? Do I live with the killer of my best friends or my abusive mother? I subconsciously touched my ribs and flinched a little as they still hurt immensely, and I had forgotten about them until now.  
"Can I have some time to think it over?" I asked, I decided I needed time alone to weigh out the pros and cons of living at each place. Crepsley nodded swiftly and a looked at Darren again for the first time since we almost kissed and I caught him already staring at me. He nodded at me too, but this nod was different, it didn't mean permission as Mr Crepsley's did, this nod was as if he understood, like he knew I was constantly calling him a murderer in my mind. Like he knew I was comparing him to my abusive mother.  
"I'll be back in a couple hours." I whispered, looking back at the floor and slowly making my way out the tent.

_Pros and cons. Pros and cons. Pros and cons._ I thought as I walked through the rest of the cirque, I soon got to the edge and to a stream. I was alone. I started talking aloud to myself and pacing as it made the thinking less jumpy and easier to process. "Pros to living here. I'm away from my mother, I'm away from school, I'm away from feeling lonely. Cons to living here. I'd be living with a murderer." That's it, that's the only con I could think of. I slid down next to a tree and recalled what had happened the past few days again and again in my mind, my whole life had changed. A tear slowly fell down my face as I remembered what Darren had done and I felt utterly repulsed at myself that I had nearly kissed him, but I had to admit that he had some sort of power over me. I had never really been that interested in kissing boys, being constantly called ugly by your mother kind of makes you think that way about yourself too. The tears kept on coming and suddenly, so did the flashbacks.

Cony telling me we didn't need anybody else but our friends to be happy.

Ruby crying because her then boyfriend had cheated on her.

Eating ice-cream with my mum and dad, we were happy.

My dad's death.

My mum trying to kick me to death.

I came back to reality breathing hard and sobbing. I definitely knew what I was going to do, even if it meant staying with my best friend's killer, I was never going to let my mother hurt me ever again. I was going to join the Cirque Du Freak.

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	6. Making Friends

**I tried to update this as quickly as I could to make up for the fact that it took so long last time. This chapter is basically just building up character relationships and such but I really hope you're enjoying it! **

"Where should I sleep?" I asked Mr Crepsley while I collected a few more pairs of clothes from Truska's tent. He hadn't been surprised about my choice to stay at the Cirque, perhaps, to him, the decision seemed much easier than it was.  
"I'm afraid you are going to have to stay in Darren and Evra's tent for tonight, it's either that or outside." Shit, I was going to be spending a night in a tent with a murderer vampire and a snake boy, that's just great. "We will be moving on in the morning, we are going to a small town outside Ipswich, it should take a few hours to get up there with all our equipment. Make sure you awake early with Darren, he shall be guarding my coffin while we are on the road." Everything about him shouted authority.  
"Y-your coffin? So you're a vampire too? I thought the whole coffin and sleeping during the day thing was a myth, I mean, Darren doesn't sleep during the day, and you're not sleeping right now!" This was becoming more and more confusing to me.  
"I got some sleep just before you woke up; the sun is hidden by the clouds today too, so there is only slight pain while I am outside. I also thought you might need me to explain everything once you awoke, I didn't want you to be left clueless with Darren. He is only a half vampire; he can stand the sun during the day so he sleeps at night. Does this answer your question?" He patted my shoulder lightly. I was surprised by this small gesture of kindness; he didn't seem like the type of man who was friendly to a lot of people.  
"Yes, thank you Sir, I really appreciate you letting me stay here." I whispered, he waved his hand in reply, dismissing my thank you and started to walk away. I caught his coat sleeve quickly and continued.  
"No, really, I really mean it; I'd be dead if it wasn't for you. Thank you." He looked momentarily shocked by the sincerity in my voice and then the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.  
"It is my welcome Grace; some people deserve a second chance at life." He turned his back again and started to walk out the tent. He shouted a quick "Oh, and call me Larten." Behind him and with that, he was gone.

The rest of the evening passed quite uneventfully. I met Truska briefly and thanked her for bandaging me up and giving me some clothes, she was a strange woman, she hardly spoke English and Evra told me she could grow a beard at will, which was something I had to see.

I had spent most of the night with Evra, he was about a year younger than me, but I could see us getting along perfectly. He seemed to be the type of friend who was always happy, always ready to cheer you up. He didn't seem immature though, which I liked about him.  
"So, have you and your mum always had a bad relationship then?" Evra asked quietly, we were both lay down on our hammocks. Darren hadn't come back from doing his chores yet.  
"Not really," I explained, "we used to be really close. The relationship only started to get shitty when my dad died."  
"I'm sorry" he whispered "How long ago did he die?" I sighed deeply.  
"Just over 3 years ago, he was hit by a car. What about you, any parents?" I asked quickly, you didn't see many snake boys wandering round so I was curious about him, plus I didn't want to keep talking about my old life.  
"Not anymore, I was born to normal humans, nothing snake like about them at all. I don't really know why I'm like this… Anyway, my parents gave me up after seeing me and they gave me to an orphanage. Then when I turned 4 I was bought by a circus owner. Not a nice one like Mr Tall, a mean old guy who kept me in a glass cage and beat me. Then when I was 11 Mr Tall came and helped me out, he killed the circus guy and I joined the Cirque. I've been here every since, it's my home." He finished his story with a smile.  
"Wow, Evra, that's so sad." I gave him a sympathetic look.  
"It ended happily so I see no reason to think about what happened back then." He smiled again, this boy was truly inspirational in my books, to go through all that and still be the happiest person at the Cirque. It took guts. "It's getting late; I wonder where Shan's got off to." Evra continued.  
"He's probably trying to avoid me trying to kill him." I joked, they didn't know that I was trying to get him to kill me yet, Larten and Evra still assumed the fight was between both of us. Evra laughed, he'd bought my lie. I couldn't have them know I had a death wish, that made me seem weak and vulnerable, and amongst strangers, that's not how I wanted to come across as.  
"I should really get into my pyjamas, turn around Evra!" I whisper-yelled, it was 10pm and although I'd only been up for 8 hours, I was absolutely wiped. He obliged and I quickly threw on the white baggy t-shirt and black shorts Truska had given me. I brushed through my long auburn hair with my fingers, wishing I had a hair tie of some sort but deciding I'd just have to live with it down for tonight.  
"Thanks for tonight Evra; you've made me feel a lot more welcome, I appreciate it. I'm gonna get some sleep, 'kay?" I yawned on queue and slid back into my hammock.  
"No problem Grace, sleep well! I'll wake you up in the morning if you like?" I said my thanks again and drifted off to sleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow.

I was quickly awoken a few hours later by someone falling into the entrance of the tent, my eyes blinked and I realised there was no difference in light between my eyes being opened or closed. I was scared. There was shuffling on the floor, footsteps closer and closer… My hands were shaking now; I was on the edge of having another flashback of my mother.  
"H-hello?" I managed to stutter out quietly, my whole body was stunned still and I was having trouble breathing now. The footsteps became closer and closer until there were right next to my hammock. I shakily lifted my arm out into the darkness to see how close this person was. As I did, someone caught my hand in mid air and I let out a startled shriek. As the sound came out of my mouth a hand clamped over it, keeping me quiet. Suddenly the hand was replaced with a pair of lips, my eyes opened wide as I realised what was happening but as soon as I was about to react, the person pulled away, let go of my hand and walked back out the tent, leaving me alone, shocked and wondering what the hell just happened.

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